I read the old thread (now closed) about amazon banning peoples accounts.
I understand that they seem to have banished a bunch of accounts in one sweep...being an old thread I wondered if anyone knows if they have since changed their policy or if anyone has heard of recent account bannings.

I don't buy very much from amazon, but am a little freaked out that they would do this across the board rather ruthlessly IMO, to at least some who didn't seem to really deserve it.
I've only made a couple returns to amazon but had a string of bad kindles that I had exchanged. The idea that they could suddenly lock me out of my kindle account has me a bit rattled.

The worse thing seems to be that you can't tell if your account is in bad standing or has this changed?

From what I've seen, the people banned deserved to be banned. And since I buy a lot from Amazon, I don't want those people causing my prices to go up because of them. I say let them buy stuff from somewhere else.

I've been an Amazon customer since they were just a book seller and I've never had to return anything.

I did, however, just return an item to an Amazon Marketplace seller. They had the nerve to send me a different model phone than what I paid for along with a note saying it was "similar." I've never experienced such foolishness with Amazon so will stick with them in the future.

This whole banning of accounts subject does leave me a bit unsettled since I own a Kindle.

Location: The Olympic Peninsula on the OTHER Washington! (the big green clean one on the west coast!)

Device: Kindle, the original! Times Two! and gifting an International Kindle

I think most of the "banning" threads we got had ulterior motives. as wv has said, I've been a customer since they were a book seller also and have returned many things including things that were simply buyers remorse. 'nary a burble

I think most of the "banning" threads we got had ulterior motives. as wv has said, I've been a customer since they were a book seller also and have returned many things including things that were simply buyers remorse. 'nary a burble

I do hope that is the case, although it is really hard to know.
It does seem like many 'innocents' did get caught up in that initial sweep.
I would like to think that they're being a little more careful in who gets banned being that they got much bad publicity for it.

Shocking that you can no longer access your e-books if Amazon closes your account. That other thread was a real eye-opener.

Exactly. That and the fact they'd shut your 3G down really bothers me. It really goes a bit too far, even for those who have truly been gaming the system.
Don't let them buy stuff- fine, but to remove access and functionality that you've already paid for?!? What?

Exactly. That and the fact they'd shut your 3G down really bothers me. It really goes a bit too far, even for those who have truly been gaming the system.
Don't let them buy stuff- fine, but to remove access and functionality that you've already paid for?!? What?

yeah, scared me too. it really just emphasizes the fact that you don't really own the ebooks that you paid for.

The worse thing seems to be that you can't tell if your account is in bad standing or has this changed?

The other day I was sideloading a file I was working on and after some of the old in out involving the usb cord, I noticed that my kindle was only listing one filename where there should have been two. The weird thing was that when I scrolled to the file the author name changed to "Preferred Customer" Not sure if that means anything though. I was going to ask about it in the developer forum.

The only account closures I've heard of recently were people who were struggling with having the Amazon accounts hacked, sign-ins and passwords compromised. Amazon had to close out those accounts and allow the customers to open new ones. Apparently it is impossible for Amazon to "transfer" Kindle books to a new account because they always seem to issue a store credit for the value of your eBooks.

There used to be much more press about Amazon closing accounts due to high returns, but they were pretty much people who did things like buy Big Screen TVs for the Super Bowl and then try to return them.

But yes, imho never trust any retailer including Amazon, to protect your eBook purchases. I don't trust Apple with my music, Amazon with my books or Snapfish with my photos. If it is important to you, take care to preserve it yourself.

There used to be much more press about Amazon closing accounts due to high returns, but they were pretty much people who did things like buy Big Screen TVs for the Super Bowl and then try to return them.

But yes, imho never trust any retailer including Amazon, to protect your eBook purchases. I don't trust Apple with my music, Amazon with my books or Snapfish with my photos. If it is important to you, take care to preserve it yourself.

I know Costco has very generous no question asked return policy that gets abused by people. I don't know if Costco ban people. I'm pretty certain they don't go and reposess stuff you bought and kept. Yikes.

okay - but again. If this were a really common practice of Amazon I can assure you that the message boards, Kindle Community, and blogs would be screaming about it from the rooftops.

Has it happened? I can recall a time or two where people claim it did. Somebody else can go climbing through the various TOS but I bet you that all the retailers (Amazon, Barnes, Kobo etc etc) now have something in there about ebook access being attached to an account and access is permitted as long as the account is active.

Remember, we don't buy eBooks. We buy licenses to eBooks and licenses can expire and be revoked. That is an issue that is discussed all the time on these boards.

Is it common? I really doubt it. That thread that was bumped here was from 2009. How many more stories like that can you find?